The Amber Alert system was initially developed to help search for abducted persons by rapidly broadcasting information pertaining to abductions to a vast public audience to help investigators find the abductees. Prior to the Amber Alert system, information was typically broadcasted over conventional media outlets such as television. The Amber Alert system took this process a step further by also broadcasting information over a several different electronic media including large electronic billboards and emergency alerts via smart phone. This alert system further included details about the abduction, such as the make and model of the car of the abductor, the age and gender of the abductee, and the last known whereabouts of both the abductor and abductee. The system also provides a contact phone number or hotline so that anyone with information regarding the abduction can provide said information to proper authorities.
However, the current Amber Alert system has several shortcomings including a delay of relaying information, i.e., there is often a significant amount of time that passes between the time the abduction occurred to the time the alert is shown to the public. Additionally, the information provided by the Amber Alert system is often limited to alphanumerical information and a few photographs of the person who is missing.
There are several existing prior art that attempt to remedy this problem. For example, U.S. Patent Application 2016/0071399 A1 discloses a system that uses microphones on a computer to monitor audio to recognize user set keys such as words or phrases to generate an alert to third parties in emergency situations. This disclosure primarily focuses on embodiments that allow the system to continuously monitor audio even when not physically activated because users may be in emergency situations where they cannot physically activate the system. However, this disclosure appears to lack any teaching or suggestion of a live video feed once the system is activated. Rather, this disclosure collects or records audio upon activation and transmit said audio to emergency services rather than providing a live, interactive stream. Additionally, there is no teaching or suggestion of sending this information and live stream to the general public near or around the user's location, similar to an Amber Alert, to allow crowdsourcing of information to help locate the abductee and/or abductor faster.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,862,092 discloses an emergency notification system that sends photo/video captures or streams to emergency services or emergency contacts to upon activation. This disclosure includes an application for mobile devices that allows the user to send information including GPS information, photos, and/or videos to a secure server that can be accessed by emergency responders and emergency contacts through a wireless network. However, this disclosure appears to lack any teaching or suggestion of keeping the application running and visible to show an abductor or perpetrator that he/she is being recorded. Additionally, there is no teaching or suggestion of sending this information and live stream to the general public near or around the user's location, similar to an Amber Alert, to allow crowdsourcing of information to help locate the abductee and/or abductor faster.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for emergency situation broadcasting and location detection that overcomes these and the many other shortcomings of conventionally available techniques.